Running Away
by AmayaSora
Summary: oneshot, Marauder-era. Sirius runs away from home and shows up at Remus' house, but why won't he stay? SBRL.


**This story was started quite a while ago, so long in fact that I completely forgot about it until I did a random search of my hard drive. I've always thought it would be fun to write about the teenaged Lupin, one who hasn't had to deal with his friends' deaths and betrayals, the true Marauder Lupin. **

**This is Sirius/Remus slash, but it's really very fluffy. It's addressing the question, why didn't Sirius move in with Remus when he ran away, if they were lovers? So, yes.**

**I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it.**

**-AmayaSora**

_**DISCLAIMER:**_** I don't own Remus, Sirius, or any other part of JKR's wonderful Potter universe. And I get no money for writing this, only personal enjoyment and satisfaction.**

Running Away

The breeze floated in through the open window of Remus Lupin's bedroom. It was a warm summer breeze, bringing with it just the right amount of salt and floral scents and- _a paper airplane, apparently, _he thought wryly as said object collided with the back of his head.

He stooped to pick it up, smiling slightly at the decorative folds on the wings that would have rendered a normal Muggle craft incapable of flight. Not that he had any Muggle friends; by the time his parents became comfortable enough with his condition to allow them over, the cliques had been firmly established without him.

Remus didn't mind so much anymore, not since James, Peter, and Sirius. The question remained, which one of them had written this missive? He unfolded it eagerly, and the smile on his face grew to epic proportions as he took in the writing he was most desperate to see, forming astonishing words: _I'm outside._

He dashed from his desk, managing to snag his jacket as he did so, and took the stairs two at a time. "Mum, I'm going out for a bit," he called over his shoulder.

"You most certainly are not!" Her voice rang out immediately, and the tone she used made Remus stop in his tracks. She reserved that tone, and the set of her eyebrows, for only the most extreme cases.

He looked at her, confused, trying to fathom what he'd done to upset her (that she knew about, anyway). Coming up with nothing, he ventured. "Sorry? Mum, _may I _go out for a bit?"

Her look softened, but the undeniable traces of worry were still there. "Remus, you know I'm usually quite liberal with you. But, in the present climate, with You-Know-Who out there, it's really not safe for a young boy to be wandering about on his own."

Remus had to bite his tongue to stop the retort that so easily sprang to his lips. He'd been spending too much time with the Marauders for this self-control reflex to be very honed. "I'm not technically wandering about, Mum. I'm just going to go for a quick walk in the woods there. It'll be fine. I'll be home before dark."

Her worry lines deepened. "Sweetie, the last attack happened in broad daylight, at Charing Cross."

She'd been reading the _Prophet_ again, he thought. He understood his father's view that, as closely intertwined with the magical world as she was, she'd have to be informed about goings-on, but now he wished he hadn't been quite so forthcoming.

"Those attacks were all going after specific targets, who'd done something to anger him. What would he want me for?"

The instant he said it he knew it wasn't going to go over well. Her expression darkened. "Come on, Remus. You're sixteen; you should know this kind of thing by now, how most people view wer- people with your condition."

Her refusal to use the word hurt him, as it always did, but again, like always, he ignored it. "What does he need one sixteen-year-old, fully socialized one for, though? Greyback and his lot are all-"

She smiled sadly, but her voice was firm. "I really am sorry, Remus."

"Yeah," he muttered, retreating back up the stairs. Sometimes his mother's protectiveness bordered on overbearing...

He sat down at his desk and pretended to return to his Potions essay, waiting until he heard the footsteps on the stairs and the creak of his door. Mum would make sure he wasn't sulking.

When the last click of her heels had died away, he went over to his trunk, which was ostensibly empty. With a quick tap of his wand, he revealed that it was actually pleasantly packed with Honeydukes sweets, pasties from the Hogwarts Express trolley, and (he smirked) the Golden Snitch James had nicked and which now enabled the ongoing game of trying to slip it into someone's belongings when they weren't looking. James would be facing retribution, that was certain.

There was also a tiny broomstick leaning against the corner. This Remus seized and, with a muttered spell, returned to its normal size. The broom, along with the chocolates, had been a gift from Sirius. He'd claimed it was his old one that he no longer needed, but the increasingly dark looks Regulus had been throwing at him since he first saw the werewolf riding it made Remus think this wasn't strictly true.

He'd find some way to secretly make it up to Regulus, of course; even if Sirius hated him, Remus didn't think he was that bad of a kid. Just a little confused.

Jerking himself out of these musings, Remus grabbed his pillows and stacked them on his desk chair. He cast the best glamour he could over them. It wasn't perfect, and couldn't move or respond in any way, but it was a passable imitation of himself studying.

Satisfied, he kicked off- very lightly so as not to hit the ceiling- and carefully maneuvered himself and the broom through the window. He banked left, out of the view from any first-floor windows, and made a wide, high loop to land in the clearing just inside of the woods bordering the property.

He hadn't even dismounted when a flying ball of black fur collided rather painfully with his chest and sent him sprawling on the dirt amidst slobbery dog kisses.

"Wah- oh- gerroff!" he gasped, flailing his arms wildly. The dog gave one last especially wet lick before bounding out of arm's reach.

"Nice to see you too, Padfoot," Remus grumbled, wiping his face clean with his sleeve. The dog barked insolently. "Don't see why you couldn't've come to the door like a normal human being; Mum would've been-"

His voice stopped, dying off abruptly in horror. The big dog had transformed into Sirius Black, but with definite changes from the one of a few weeks ago on the platform: their were bags under his eyes, dirt all over his robes, and a nasty cut on his lip, as if he'd been punched.

"What did they do to you?" he whispered, eyes wide.

Sirius smiled a horrid, forced smile, and retreated a little into the shadows of the trees. "Told me to live up to the family name, don't be a disgrace, the usual shit."

"They've never hit you before," Remus said, a hard edge to his voice now.

"My parents? Nah, I'm still the heir; too precious to risk damaging." His grimace matched his voice for bitterness. "No, this was from my charming kid brother."

Regulus was definitely _not _getting any compensation for the broom then, Remus decided fiercely. He took a step closer to Sirius. "Regulus hit you? _Regulus?_"

"I'd be almost proud of him, if it wasn't for the throbbing, you know," Sirius replied, trying for a disaffected grin.

Remus was too worried to be put off. "Here, let me heal it for you. I can-"

"No, that's alright," Sirius said, a little bit too quickly. "Battle scars make you sexy."

Remus narrowed his eyes. "Sirius, I know what you're doing. I don't care _what _you did or said, you don't deserve to be hurt! Especially not by people like _them_, who claim to be your family."

The fierceness of Remus' conviction warmed Sirius' heart. "Not any more, they don't."

"What?"

"They've disowned me. I'm not a part of their family anymore. I heard her blasting the tapestry as I was leaving."

"They- they _disowned _you? But, why?"

"It's no loss by any means. You know that," Sirius said, sweeping a strand of hair off of his face.

"No, but, why now? All of a sudden? You've been pushing their limits for so long now- not that I blame you in the slightest. But nothing you've done has warranted disowning... what was their reason?"

"How should I know? They're nutters, the lot of them. I'm glad to be shot of them. I ran away voluntarily, Remus, they didn't kick me out."

He blinked coolly for a few seconds, digesting this. "You ran away? You finally did it then?"

Sirius nodded, and Remus beamed. They'd been entertaining the idea of having Sirius do just that, and move in with him. His mother would be delighted, actually. "Wow," was all he managed. It was an enormous step.

"You're so cute when you're overwhelmed," Sirius said fondly. He stepped forward and gently brought Remus' lips to his own.

Immediately, the tawny-haired boy relaxed into the kiss. He'd missed this in the few weeks they'd been parted, the way their lips fit together so perfectly, their tongues moved in sync.

Remus tasted blood, and remembered belated Sirius' split lip. "Siri, sorry, here, let me-" but the offer was cut off as Sirius crashed their lips together again, and this time there was an edge to it, a wild, desperate undercurrent that did not bode well. Remus wrenched himself away.

"Sirius. What's wrong?" he demanded firmly. There was a time and a place for gentle coercion, and now was neither. Not when that kiss had been so charged with fear, as if Sirius thought it would never happen again.

"I- I can't move in with you," he said, looking like every word cost him.

"You- but, didn't we- you said- why?" Remus then proceeded to answer his own question. "You're- you're breaking up with me, aren't you? That's- that's- well, unexpected, but... I can't say I was thinking it'd last forever," he lied, turning away to hide his tears.

"No! No, that's not it at all!" Sirius said, turning his partner to face him. "Really, Remus, I could never break up with you. I love you."

"Funny way to show it," he muttered, then immediately hated himself for the hurt his bitter words had caused to flash in Sirius' eyes.

The black-haired teen took a deep shaky breath. "I _am _showing you, Remus. My- my mother, she told me it was high time I got settled down, married someone _suitable_- that Nott girl, she'd picked. And, well, I wouldn't have it. Couldn't do it.

"So I told her. Told her 'no way in hell.' Mum didn't like that very much," he said with an empty smile. "Went completely mental, screaming her usual stuff, came up with some new ones. Kreacher enjoying every second of it.

"Well, Regulus comes down in the middle of this, and the little git says 'Course he's upset, Mother. Sirius fancies his little half-breed pet.' which obviously set her off even more. The things she said about you..." Sirius looked up, eyes hard like daggers. "I turned to Regulus and said 'Remus is ten times the person anyone in this family will _ever_ be.' That's when he decked me.

"Mother didn't realize you were, you know, a guy until that point. That was... even worse. Meanwhile, I'm trying to hex Regulus to oblivion, but Kreacher kept getting in the way, the prat. Then she said-" he broke off abruptly and cleared his throat. "Well. It doesn't really matter. I couldn't take it, so I grabbed my stuff, shrunk my trunk to fit in my pocket, and, here I am."

Remus was riveted by the story, the dawning horror that _he _had been the one to finally force Sirius out of his home, to cause all the sleeplessness and the bleeding lip. He sank down to sit on a rock, shaking. "I- I-"

"Don't you dare say you're sorry," Sirius warned, crouching down in front of the trembling werewolf. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat, Remus. You're too good of a person for anyone to say things like that. I love you."

Without warning, Remus launched himself off the rock and onto Sirius' lips, knocking them both to the ground. His kiss, just as passionate as the one moments ago, was mingled with tears, of love and of gratitude.

Eventually, they broke apart. Sirius' rough thumb wiped the excess water off of Remus' eyelid. "There, now."

The pair lay in silence for a while as the sun slowly sank beneath the horizon, sending golden tendrils through the orange sky. After a time, Remus spoke again. "That doesn't explain why you can't stay here with me. If, if you want to, that is," he added sheepishly.

Sirius sighed heavily. "Of course I want to, Remus."

"Then what is it?" Sirius remained silent, while Remus got more wound up. "Look, it's not going to hurt my feelings, alright? I just, you know me. I need concrete answers for things. I can't just let it go... please," he begged.

"She said- my mother told me that if I couldn't stop on my own, that she'd have to make me, that she'd send some of her acquaintances over- cousin Bellatrix, maybe- to see to it that you would no longer be a... a _distraction_, she called you, as if this was some temporary mistake," he spat derisively. "The only mistake I've made is not leaving sooner... but, anyway, the point is, I can't stay here. My parents will find me, soon too, with all their connections, and if I'm here, with you, they'll... Remus, I can't let them hurt you."

Remus was completely floored by this. He'd known what Sirius' parents were like, but even he never expected they'd sink this low, threatening a teenager in order to get their way. "You think they would actually do it?" he asked.

"Of course they'd really do it... they're _evil, _Remus, complete psychopaths. I- part of the reason I came was to make sure they hadn't already, that you were still..." He couldn't bring himself to say what he thought might have happened.

Remus reached out and pulled Sirius into a hug, a tight, loving embrace through which he tried to convey what even his extensive vocabulary couldn't articulate. Sirius got the message, however, because when he eventually pulled away he planted a soft, loving kiss on Remus' lips.

"Where are you going to go?"

"James'," said Sirius. "His parents can't get enough of me. Besides, the Potters are just as pureblooded as the Blacks, and more well-liked, so I doubt Mum could do anything about it."

Remus nodded. "Sirius... before you go, I just want to say that I... if I had to choose, I'd definitely want to die for love, or for someone I love. Because at some point, without love, it's not worth living anymore."

"A very Moony answer," said Sirius softly, but his eyes were swimming with tears. "If I had to choose... it wouldn't really matter, as long as I was with you." And they kissed again, but soft and sweet this time, tender.

"Well," said Remus, finally backing away. "It's getting dark... I'd offer you a bed, but somehow I don't think you'd take it."

"No... I reckon I can make it to James' place on time anyway. Been practicing my Apparition," he said with a grin.

"But you haven't got a license... you know what? I'm not even going to bother. When have rules ever made much difference to you anyway?"

"When there's loopholes to exploit," answered Sirius cheekily. "Anyway... I should probably go... thank you. For understanding." Remus nodded again. "See if you can convince your mum to let you come over too, yeah?"

"'Course. Can't promise anything, but maybe if I ask Dad... worst-case scenario, I'll see you in September. We've only got a month or so to wait."

"But, Moony, how am I ever going to occupy my time for an entire month without you?" said Sirius in a tone that made Remus blush profusely.

"Goodbye, Padfoot. I'll see you soon."

"You'd better write," he warned.

"I will."

"Good. Well then... I'm off."

Remus gave Sirius one last long, deep kiss before the black-haired teen turned on the spot and simply disappeared into thin air. Remus shook his head fondly. Sirius hadn't been lying about the Apparition.

... ... ... ...

Sirius' feet hit solid ground. He staggered slightly, a bit disoriented despite his efforts. It was the longest distance he'd ever Apparated, he thought with a smirk as he realized that he, at sixteen, with no formal lessons at all, did what many full-grown wizards took months to learn with a Ministry-certified instructor.

Sirius looked up to the top of the hill where the warm glow of lantern light shone out of every window in the Potters' house. As he began to make his way up the windy path towards it, he stuck his hand into his pocket, and was startled when his palm struck something hard and metal.

He clenched his fist around the object and slowly pulled it out of his pocket, smirking hugely when he revealed the Golden Snitch resting gently on his palm. _Very clever, Moony_, he thought, using that last kiss as cover to slip him the object. Sirius tucked it fondly back inside his robes. He was quite confident that he'd have passed it off to James by this time tomorrow, as usual.

_As usual... _As usual, Remus hadn't done this simply for the sake of a prank. He'd done it to prove that, amidst all the chaos and confusion and change around them, some things would always stay constant. And so Sirius smiled wider and thought that perhaps he didn't want to pass the Snitch along after all.


End file.
